“I feel extremely disheartened and dejected if I am unable to put down my thoughts on paper. The thoughts are random, and I am lucky to have a flair for writing, which helps me document both my thoughts and feelings,” says Lipsa Patel.
However, it wasn’t easy for the Bhawanipatna-based Lipsa to pursue her dream of being a writer given the strong resistance she faced from her family. Despite that, today she is the proud author of five books — Niraba Muhurta, Mukhya Muhana, Lagna Sidha, Bhirnna Balaya and Sabdamedha. While the first is a set of poems, the others are compilations of short stories.
Born and brought up in Bolangir, Lipsa had a difficult childhood. Her mother passed away after giving birth to her and her father died when she was still in Class III. Lipsa grew up under the guardianship of her grandfather and uncles. “I spent my childhood at my uncle’s house. It was a joint family. My maternal grandmother was passionate about writing and would religiously write poems. Be it in the middle of night or the wee hours, she would pen down her thoughts but keep them from the watchful eyes of other family members. She would often give me children’s magazines. Perhaps, that’s how I developed a penchant for writing,” says Lipsa.
When Lipsa was in Class II, she wrote a poem titled Maa and recited it on Children’s Day at a district-level recitation competition. Her performance won her the first prize. “This gave me the much-needed motivation. I continued writing till my family members learnt about it. Everyone, except my grandparents, tried to stop me. They would tell me, ‘Writing is not a woman’s job. You come from a respectable family and should immediately quit writing.’ When they failed to change my mind, they burnt my works. This made me more determined and I started writing without letting others know,” she says.
Lipsa was always a bright student. After completing her Plus II in science from BJP College in Bhubaneswar and Plus III from Rajendra College in Bolangir, she did her postgraduation in zoology from Sambalpur University. However, she was never interested in doing a regular job. “Although my family members thought that I had stopped writing, I never really did so. I can live without food for days, but I can’t go through a single day without writing. After marriage, my husband spotted my talent and encouraged me to publish my books. I owe him everything,” says the 35-year-old author.
Lipsa, whose works have been appreciated by prominent litterateurs like Haraprasad Das, Rajanikant Mohanty, Sailaja Rabi, Sanghamitra Mishra and Gayatri Saraf, says that she has always been inspired by real-life stories of women’s struggles and success. “I feel these real-life stories inspire everyone. However, many such stories get lost. I try to find a message in such stories and then add some meat to them and weave a new story. It isn’t an easy process and needs a lot of thinking and imagination,” says Lipsa.
Recollecting a past incident, Lipsa says, “When I was in Rajendra College, the head of the Odia department sought my help to edit the college magazine. He learnt about my weakness for Odia during a poetry recitation event in our college. He was eagerly awaiting my piece for the magazine. On the last day of submission, when he didn’t find my write-up, he rushed to me asking for my piece and also asked me to assist him in editing the magazine.”
Narrating another such memorable incident, Lipsa says, “Prominent author Gayatri Saraf, who won the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award for her short story collection Itabhatira Silpi, was my teacher in high school. I was a big fan but too scared to talk to her. I never imagined that a day would come when she would launch my book. Praising me, she said, ‘Lipsa has earned a name for herself in the world of literature in a very short span of time. Her writings reflect her honesty and hard work towards bringing in change in society.’ Her words always encourage me.”
Ask her about the most cherished moment of her life, and she says, “I will never forget the day eminent author Manoj Das released my debut book Niraba Muhurta.”
RASHMI REKHA DAS, OP
